The Minnesota Vikings started the year with the hope that this would be the season they demonstrate strength in all areas and make a run at their first Super Bowl title. Through the first four weeks of the season, the Vikings are already in survival mode as a result of injuries to the offensive line.
The Vikings suffered a 24-21 defeat to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 4 as they went overseas to Croke Park in Dublin to play in front of a sell-out Irish crowd. Center Ryan Kelly was lost early in the game with a concussion and right tackle Brian O'Neill went down with an apparent knee injury.
The Vikings center suffered his second concussion in the last 15 days. He had two previously documented concussions in 2023. Head coach Kevin O'Connell said the Vikings are very concerned about Kelly's overall health but did not want to comment on his immediate future.
“The health of our players is always the beginning, the end, and the middle of that conversation,” O'Connell said after the loss. “So we'll totally defer to the doctors and we'll defer to the protocol. And then ultimately, we're gonna want to make sure Ryan's in a good place. That's not anything I particularly ever want to mess around with, so we'll be smart. Definitely not my lane to weigh in on those things until we get to that place.”
Vikings fell behind early as Steelers took charge
After the Vikings opened the game by stopping the Steelers on a 3-and-out on the opening possession, the Vikings were able to go 56 yards on 11 plays and open the scoring on Will Reichard's 41-yard field goal.
The Steelers got aggressive after that as they marched 71 yards in 9 plays and culminated that drive with a Kenneth Gainwell 1-yard TD run.
Pittsburgh followed that TD drive with an offensive explosion as quarterback Aaron Rodgers connected with D.K. Metcalf on a short pass over the middle that the receiver took 80 yards for a touchdown.
Rodgers was able to to torment the Vikings defense as he completed 18 of 22 passes for for 200 yards. Gainwell had 18 carries for 99 yards.
Vikings quarterback Carson Wentz was productive as he completed 30 of 46 passes for 350 yard with 2 TDs and 2 interceptions. The beleaguered Vikings offensive line was unable to protect Wentz adequately and he was sacked 6 times for 48 yards in losses.
Wentz completed 10 of his passes to ace receiver Justin Jefferson for 126 yards, but none of hose plays were longer than 29 yards. Jefferson was unable to get into the endzone as the Vikings slipped to 2-2.
